


Two Kids Against the World

by Im_Angry_and_Smol



Series: Heart and Soul [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Tony Stark, Childhood Friends, Dancer Natasha Romanov, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Italian Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Iron man-Avengers and beyond, Red Room (Marvel), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, endgame and infinity war can be ignored, its light but there so just know, lets pretend everyone lives happily ever after, more characters will be added in the future - Freeform, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28963830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_Angry_and_Smol/pseuds/Im_Angry_and_Smol
Summary: Tony Stark(Tonio) met Natalia at a gala, age 8.  Natasha (Natalia) met Tonio on her first mission, age 8.After that night, Natalia vanished, only to show up the next year. And then the next, and the next.This is the story of the heart and soul of the MCU, and what would happen if they grew up as friends.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark
Series: Heart and Soul [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2142684
Comments: 25
Kudos: 104





	1. You can call me..

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting a story, ever. Please be nice, leave any suggestions or questions in the comments. Enjoy! :)

Natalia was eight when she was sent on her first solo mission. It was really more of a practice mission than an actual one. She would just be infiltrating an event and gathering simple intel, nothing she hadn’t done before. Her name wasn’t Natalia either, at least not to them. She was called Natasha in the Red Room, but in her head, she was Natalia.  
The event was a gala in America, in one of the more popular cities, New York. It was full of governors, CEO’s, ambassadors, generals and other powerful figures. Only a small group of children were attending, the sons and daughters of these powerful people. Snotty brats who had never had to work for a thing in their life, at least that was what Natalie had been told. She tended to listen to what she had been told, it was easier for her then.  
She wore a fluffy, butter yellow dress. Decorated in gems and glitter, with a full skirt and matching gloves. She adored it. It reminded her of dancers she had seen once on screen. Her hair had been dyed brunette, her original hair was a fiery red that she coveted. Natalia hated to dye it, but there was no argument with Madame B.  
She gracefully and invisibly moved through the crowds. Always keeping one eye on her target. A portly man in a dark blue suit, with a cream colored tie and handkerchief. His wife, dressed in a simple, lavender, dancing dress, hung on his arm. She laughed at some joke that was probably terrible.  
Natalia knew she had all night to complete her mission, she didn’t need it. She was the top of her class, a cause of envy among her classmates. But tonight she wanted to enjoy herself, so she had nabbed the letter from the gentleman's pocket as early as was safe.  
Now without a mission, and the letter tucked safely into her dress’s secret pocket, Natalie moved towards the snack table. Out of the way and partly in the shadows, unnoticeable and unremarkable. She nibbled on a cookie, swaying slightly to the music playing. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a young boy walking in her direction, she ignored him.  
“Hello,” he said. She could see him clearly now.  
His dark-colored hair was curly, making it look especially soft and giving him a younger look. He had chocolate brown eyes that sparkled with little flecks of gold. His suit was black with a white shirt and a black bowtie, unrumpled and impeccable.  
She said nothing in response. Hoping he would become uninterested and leave. He didn’t.  
“Are you bored? I’m bored, these are never fun. Don’t tell my dad I said that. You must be new, I haven’t seen you before. Do you speak english? How many languages do you know? I only know one, but my mom sometimes speaks in Italian so I know some of that.” Here he paused for breath, as he had been speaking for quite a while.  
Natalia was vaguely amused by him.  
“You don’t talk much, do you? Are you mute? Jarvis says I’m not supposed to ask people too many questions because it would be rude. But then I’d never learn anything. People ignore me most of the time anyways so it doesn’t matter.”  
The boy shrugged indifferently, grinning widely and shoving his hand in his pockets. Natalia had finished her cookie. “I’m not mute, you talk too much,” she responded, startling herself by the words.  
The boy grinned wider if that was possible. “My dad says that too. I like your dress; it’s astonishing!”  
“Thank you.” She spoke simply.  
“Do you want to go get another cookie? Mom says I shouldn’t eat too many because its rude. Everything fun seems to be rude. I actually don’t like those cookies, I like the tiny cakes.”  
He reached forward and grabbed her hand, starting to walk to the table. Natalia could have broken his hand and left, but she didn’t. She liked this small boy, and she wanted another cookie anyways.  
“Where are your parents? Mine are busy, they’re actually always busy. I don’t know why they take me to these things, I never do anything except smile for the cameras and eat cookies. Sometimes they make me talk to the adults, I never talk to the kids because they’re all uneducated. You look smart though, and you’re pretty.”  
Natalia looked at him in surprise, she blushed faintly. Nobody complimented her at the Red Room. At least not genuinely.  
“They’re dancing. They’re busy a lot too.” She lied through her teeth, smiling sweetly. He nodded solemnly, chewing on his cake thoughtfully.  
“Do you dance? I can dance a little. Ballroom and ballet. I actually like ballet better, but Dad says that it's only for girls.”  
“I do ballet too. And there are lots of dances you can’t do without a boy dancer, so hes wrong.”  
The boy looked at her in awe for a moment before smiling and grabbing her hand again.  
“Let’s go dance. I know a place we can hide.”  
Natalia hesitated, she wasn’t sure if this would be ok with Madame B.  
“Unless you don’t want to? That’s ok, we can just stay here.” The boy smiled, but Natalia could tell it was fake. She wasn’t sure why but it made her sad.  
“Let’s go dance.” She agreed. The boy grabbed her hand and started to walk off but then he stopped.  
“Wait what’s your name? Mines Anthony but Dad calls me Tony. Mom and Jarvis call me Antonio. You can call me Tonio.”  
“You can call me Natalia,” she said without thinking.  
Tonio smiled and took off. “All right, come on Natalia!”  
She followed, letting Tonio lead her through the crowd. He didn’t make a scene like she had feared he might. Instead they skirted the crowd, slipped through a door and ended up in an abandoned office.  
Tonio and Natalia danced together in that office. Starting out by showing off their skills. Each trying to outdo each other. Natalie held back on her skills, knowing that she could not explain how she knew so much ballet at such a young age. Her pride didn’t allow her to lose though. Tonio was appropriately impressed by her skills.  
After they got tired of showing off, Tonio was the only one bored, Natalia could have gone on for hours if that was what was required, they attempted to dance together. Recreating moves that Tonio had seen on tv and insisted that they try. Natalia indulged him, there was nothing better for her to do and it had been so long since she had free time like this.  
Eventually they ended up on the floor, bruised from falling a few times, and giggling. Tonio was breathing heavily, Natalia copied his breath, though she wasn’t tired.  
“Natalia?”  
“Yes, Tonio?”  
“Where do you live?” Natalia was not expecting that.  
“Why?” She asked suspiciously.  
“I just thought it would be cool if we could visit each other. We could even practice dancing together! Of course we’d have to convince our parents, and Dad would be opposed, but he always is and Mom would convince him. And we could be the bestest of friends! Do you have any best friends? I don’t.” Tonio seemed unbothered by this admission, “It gets so lonely in my house, Dad’s always working and Mom’s working too. Jarvis is fun, but he has to clean the house and make food and he doesn’t get engineering. Aunt Peggy’s fun too, but she doesn’t live there, even though I offer it all the time.”  
“Don’t you have siblings?” Natalia asked, thinking it would be the correct question a child of her age would ask.  
“No.”  
“Oh.. I actually live very far away.”  
“How far? We have a plane.”  
“Russia.” Natalia responded, she had no idea why she hadn’t lied.  
“Russia!? Oh that's super far, I don’t think Dad’ll let me visit...Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?” Tonio asked, looking upset by this revelation.  
Natalia could have rolled her eyes, and would have if she didn’t feel the same sense of disappointment. Tonio was fun, she enjoyed listening to him ramble. She suddenly realized it was late, and she had to report to her handlers. Tonio seemed to realize the time as well.  
“Do you have to go?” He asked, strangely quiet for the energetic boy.  
“I should, but we’ll see each other again. I promise.” Natalia was suddenly determined to see him again someday, she wasn’t sure when. His face brightened.  
“Really!? Well I promise too. I’ll look for you, even if it's years later.”  
“Yes, even years later. Now I have to go find my Mama and Papa.” She said sadly but logically. Tonio nodded along with her.  
“Yes, Dad’ll be looking for me. Goodbye Natalia.”  
She felt something happy inside, hearing someone else calling her by her name.  
“Goodbye, Tonio.” She turned to leave, but he grabbed her hand.  
“Wait!” Gently he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. When he pulled away he was smiling bashfully.  
“That’s what my Mom does when someone she likes is leaving. She says that in Italy they give cheek kisses.”  
Natalia smiled, truly smiled. “Thank you, Tonio.” Then she leaned and gave him a cheek kiss of his own.  
He gaped, his hand coming up to touch his cheek. She giggled at him before turning and walking calmly out the door. The letter she had stolen sat in her pocket, and her target was still smiling and laughing at the party, but all Natalia could think about was the small boy she had met called Tonio. Her first friend.


	2. Daggers and Apple Cider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second meeting of our two small heros.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, chapter two. Suggestions and questions can be left in the comments(Please be nice) Enjoy! :)

His name wasn’t Tonio. Mama called him Antonio, Jarvis called him that too. Dad called him Tony, or Anthony when he was being bad. Aunt Peggy called him Bubba, but that wasn’t a real name. Tonio was what he called himself, and now Natalia called him Tonio too. He liked it.  
Tonio was a smart boy, at least that's what Jarvis and Mama said. He knew that Russia was very, very far away. (All the way across the Atlantic ocean!) He also knew that people here at home didn’t really like the Russians, but Natalia was nice. She had danced with him, made interesting conversation, and seemed to actually want to be friends.   
Tonio hoped that he would see her again. When he went home he didn’t tell anyone about the girl in the yellow dress, preferring to keep her secret. Tonio was seven.  
…

When Tonio was nine, he attended another gala. As usual he hadn’t bothered to find out why it was being held, though he could have. Jarvis had dressed him in a black suit with a real tie this time, no bow tie. Tonio would have detested it either way.  
His father and mother had guided him through the cameras and news reporters. The flashing lights and yelling was common to him now, that didn’t mean he liked it. He had already been in the spot light enough for a lifetime now, but his father insisted. ‘Smile for the camera, Tony.’  
Once they were inside, they left him though. Wandering off to reminisce with stuffy old people who wouldn’t understand Tonio’s projects if they slapped them in the face. Tonio didn’t mind, he wandered over to the snack table to nibble and watch the crowds. It had been two years, but every gala he attended, he looked for Natalia.  
Flashy dresses and stiff suits filled the room, making it hard to find any specific person, especially at Tonio’s height. He was small, too small his father said. The music in the background was piano, making Tonio’s fingers itch to play. He fiddled with the screwdriver he had stuffed in his pocket.  
A flash of emerald caught his eye, making him glance up. A small girl, in a satin emerald dress and fiery red hair, was following a tall, skinny man. The girl couldn’t have been older than Tonio, she wandered through the crowd at a leisurely pace. To anyone glancing at her she would be normal, but Tonio watched her closely, noticing how she seemed to be tied to the man with a string.  
The man was unaware of her as he sat down at the bar counter and ordered a drink. It was amber colored, he sipped it carefully. A woman came over to him and began to talk, making him look in the direction opposite of the girl.   
Graceful and cautious as a cat, the red headed girl reached up and dropped something in the man's drink that sat on the counter. She stirred it with the umbrella, before turning and walking away like nothing had even happened. The gentleman sipped from his drink and talked with the woman, completely unaware.  
Tonio watched the girl go, she slipped in between skirts and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared. He huffed in frustration, walking forward to see if he could find her again. His head turned every which way, looking for a hint of emerald or red.  
After several minutes, he gave up. There was no sign of the small girl. Tonio sighed, tuning and grabbing a cup of apple cider from a table. It was the sweet kids kind.   
“Tonio.” A sweet voice startled him and he turned around, nearly spilling his drink. A wide grin pulled on his face.  
“Natalia! I haven’t seen you in forever! I love your dress, it's so nice. And your hair is different too! My hair is just longer, but yours is a different color.”  
Natalia watched him ramble with a small smile on his face. Up close he could see that the emerald dress was a dancing one, with a flowy skirt meant to flare up when she spun. Her fiery red hair was shoulder length and glistened in the light. It was slightly waved and framed her young face. She wore matching emerald gloves that went up to her elbows.  
“Wait, you put something in that guy's drink. What was it?” Tonio stopped and looked at her with confused eyes. Natalia’s face froze, but only for a second.  
“What?” She asked sweetly. Tonio rolled his eyes.  
“You put a pill or something in that guys drink over there,” he pointed. “Is it a sedative? Aunt Peggy told me about those. How did you get one? Or is it poison? Did you kill him?” Tonio’s eyes widened, but he wasn't terribly broken up about it.  
Natalia was watching him with an unidentifiable expression on her face. She stared for a moment before smiling, Tonio felt unnerved for a moment.  
“Can I have apple cider?” She asked.   
Tonio grabbed her a cup, not commenting about the change of topic. He was smart, he knew Natalia was smart too. He could wait. She sipped it delicately, surveying the room around her casually.  
“Did you miss me?”  
“Of course I missed you. We haven’t seen each other in forever,” Tonio stressed this word with a sigh, making Natalia shake her head at him. “What have you been doing? I’ve been programming stuff. I made a few more circuit boards! And I even made a little toy robot that walks, it can see walls and not run into them, Dad didn’t like it though.”  
“Why?” She asked. Tonio frowned sullenly.  
“He said that I could do better. It was no use making things that could be better.”  
“That doesn’t make any sense. How do you know it could be better if you don’t make it in the first place?”  
He considered this. Then he broke out into a full grin, “Yeah, that does make sense. You’re smart Natalia.”  
“Thank you. I bet you’re smart too. I don’t know how to program things yet.”  
“I’m sure you could learn. Natalia?” Tonio was hesitant.  
“Hmm?” Natalia sipped her cider.  
“What were you doing to the guys drink?” He stared at her, hoping for an answer. Natalia stared back.  
“It was a sedative.” She answered finally. Tonio ignored the thrill of excitement.  
“Why?”  
“Practice.”  
“Practice for what?” He asked, Natalia looked at him carefully for a moment.  
“I’m not a normal kid, Tonio. Someday, I will be a skilled adult, and for now, I practice.”  
Tonio accepted this answer. He could tell that Natalia was not going to tell him anything else. Besides, he thought he had an idea. Natalia would probably be an agent or something when she grew up, like Aunt Peggy. An idea popped in his head.  
“Do you want to dance?”  
“Alright.” Natalia agreed readily.  
Tonio grinned at her and grabbed her gloved hand. He once again led her through the crowd and to an abandoned office. It was a different place this time, so the office was different too.  
Natalia was a good dancer, great in fact. Tonio tried his best to keep up with her as she spun and leaped around the room, but was always two steps behind. There was no choreography, they simply danced however they felt. Listening to the music that was faint in the background.  
Soon enough Tonio had danced until his heart felt ready to give out. He flopped on the ground, feeling like jelly. Natalia laid on the ground, her head next to his but her body in the opposite direction. Giggles erupted from Tonios mouth, Natalia giggled too.  
For hours they talked. Tonio told her about his projects, how they were going and what they did. He explained how he made his first circuit board and first robot. She laughed when he told her about how he accidentally put salt in the cookies instead of sugar. Tonios hands gestured wildly in the air as he told her about his piano and dance lessons.  
Natalia didn’t mention much about her home, or her family. But she did fill the room with stories from Russia. Sweets with descriptions that made Tonios mouth water, scenes of frosty winter. The air was filled with stories and information that typical friends shared.  
Tonio talked much more than Natalia, who mainly listened with wide eyes. Hours later, Tonio was animatedly explaining a case that Aunt Peggy had been investigating when a sudden thought occurred to him.  
“Have you ever been kidnapped? I have, people think I’m important and they steal me for money. Dad doesn’t pay though, he tells me to escape on my own. What do you do if you get kidnapped?”  
Natalia blinked at him for a moment, “People have tried to kidnap me,” she admitted. “I usually escape or get away before they can. What do you do?”  
“Escape somehow,” Tonio shrugged, “Aunt Peggy usually rescues me if I’ve been gone for a few days. She’s trying to teach me how to escape, but there's not a lot of time for me to learn.”  
The red headed girl said nothing. She simply studied him. Tonio studied her as well, her eyes seemed to be older than the rest of her. She held herself confidently, and had a sense of independence around her. A strange combination for kids.   
Natalia bent down, slipping her delicate fingers inside her shoe. She pulled a small object out, discreetly hiding it from the eyes of other people. The object reflected light, Tonio strained to see what it was. She reached out with her gloved hand and pressed the object into his hand tightly. She smiled at him, holding his hand for a second longer.  
“Take care of yourself, Tonio.”  
Then she leaned in, giving him a quick firm hug and a cheek kiss. He watched her go, dumbfounded. When he finally looked down at the object in his hand, he froze.  
It was a knife, he thought it could possibly be called a dagger. It gleamed sliver, dangerously beautiful. The handle was wrapped in leather and simple, beautiful carvings decorated part of it. The blade was sharp, Tonio could tell, sharp enough to cut skin easily.   
Ever so carefully, he wrapped the blade in his handkerchief, knowing he would be scolded later for losing it, and slipped the knife into his pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 will be published on Wednesday Feb 3.


	3. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are bullies, we meet Yasha and there is angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay! I meant to publish this in the morning but I got busy in schoolwork. Also just so you know, starting with this chapter there will be messing with the timeline. It's not that noticeable but it won't be completely accurate with canon. Any suggestions and questions are welcome in the comments. Please, enjoy! :)

Natalia was nine when she went directly against orders for the first time. Her handlers made it very clear that she was never to arm someone who could be an enemy. She had given Tonio one of her knives, it was part of a matching set. Her favorite pair.  
A few months after she had given away her dagger, she saw a picture of Tonio. Actually more than a picture. Articles, tabloids, news papers, all plastered with pictures of Tonios family and his accomplishments. They called him Tony, Tony Stark.  
Natalia was trained hard in the Red Room. There was no room for failure. She rose through the ranks while other girls disappeared or fell behind. Along with her new skills, they fed her information. Who was powerful, influencers, conflicts and tensions. Never once, did she let on that she knew Tonio. Using the skills that they had taught her against them. Protecting the one friend she had.  
Sometimes, when Natalia laid awake at night, she wondered if Tonio was safe. Or what he was doing. She wondered what he would do if he knew what she was. Then she dismissed those thoughts, never letting them get too far.  
Was she compromised by this attachment to Tonio? It didn’t feel like it.  
…  
Years went by. By the time Natalia was twelve she had been given a new handler. His name was Yasha, others referred to him as the Winter Soldier. Training with him was enjoyable. Natalia grew in her skills. He was always as gentle as was allowed. He called her his little ballerina. Soon she had become attached to him the same way she had become attached to Tonio.  
Every year, somehow, Natalia got on a mission to America. As often as she could without raising suspicion, she looked for Tonio. She usually found him, he was small for his age. Sometimes she worried about him.  
This year was the first time Yasha was going with her on a mission instead of one of the other handlers. They had been given more time than was strictly necessary considering their skillset. Natalia wasn’t sure why, but didn’t question it.   
“Yasha?”   
She spoke in Russian. She was sitting at the table in the small apartment they had broken into earlier. She was wearing a cocktail dress, with off the shoulder sleeves, a full circle skirt and a crew cut top. It was cream, with a golden stripe a few inches from the bottom of the skirt. She wore a matching set of golden gloves up to her elbows and cream colored shoes with a one inch heel.   
“Yes, Киса?” He asked, using her Russian nickname. She sat still, though she was nervous, otherwise the beautiful braid he was twisting into her hair would be ruined.  
“How fast do you think I could get the mission done?”   
Natalia held her breath, hoping that she hadn’t given herself away. She was hoping that she could stay later tonight than was needed. Tonio was going to be there. But she needed to know when Yasha expected her back.  
The fingers in her hair paused for a brief moment, short enough that, had she not been trained, Natalia would have never noticed.  
“Take your time, we do not want a mess to clean up, do we?”   
“No, Yasha.”  
“There's my little ballerina.”  
He suspected something. She knew he did. Both Russian spies could read each other though, and she knew she had his permission to be later than necessary. She took a deep breath, ignoring the impulse to sag in relief, and sat quietly again. Yasha sat behind her, his fingers gently braiding her hair, both metal and flesh.  
…  
Tonio was sipping apple cider, looking like a smaller carbon copy of his father, who was laughing with reporters on the other side of the room. Natalia knew that Tonio hated to have his unruly curls straightened, he loved that his hair looked like his mothers. His father didn’t approve, which was why Tonios hair was always straightened in the news.  
The target for the evening had already been taken care of. A poisonous drug slipped into his cocktail would do all of Natalia's work for her. It had been laughably easy, except that Natalia didn’t laugh.   
Yasha was watching the exits, looking for her or any threats. It would be a calm night.  
“Tonio.” Natalia whispered.  
She had walked up behind him, not sneaking, but being quiet enough to not be noticed. The boy jumped and spun around, a small smile on his face.  
“Natalia! Oh, I thought I saw you earlier, but I couldn’t be sure. Your dress is pretty, I love your braids. What’re you doing here?”  
As usual, Tonio babbled on, switching back and forth from subjects quickly. Natalia nearly frowned, what was she supposed to tell him?  
“I like your tie,” She offered, “I miss your curls though.” The boy scowled.  
“Dad doesn’t like my curls. Do you want some juice?” Natalia nodded. He waved a waiter over and grabbed her a glass, she took it and sipped. It was a luxury to have such fancy drinks and she took advantage of it.  
“Are you on a mission?” He asked suddenly. His voice was quieter, but at least he had the smarts to not lean in and look suspicious. Natalia hesitated, but then answered.  
“Yes. I only come to America for missions.”  
Tonio nodded, as if this only confirmed what he already knew. Tonio was a smart kid though, so Natalia supposed that he had figured it out anyway.  
“Poison?” He asked casually. Natalia was slightly startled, not expecting him to be so calm about it.  
“Yes.”  
“Who?”  
“Classified.”  
Tonio pouted at her, it wasn’t genuine, “Aw..not even if I say please?”  
“You’ll find out later.”  
“You’re no fun.” He was smiling though.  
They drank their drinks silently for a few moments. Tonio had fallen silent, gazing out on the dance floor. Natalia copied him, blending in just like he was. He was better at blending in than most people would expect, a good spy in the making.  
Footsteps were approaching Natalia from behind. Casual, but heavy. She didn’t turn around, keeping her cover of a rich man's snooty daughter.  
“Hey, look, it's Stark’s boy!” A deep, adolescent voice.  
Tonio tensed next to her, and he glanced her way fearfully before carefully schooling his features. He spun around with a wobbly grin. Natalia spun with him.  
“Hi Victor, Jimmy. It’s good to see you guys.”  
Victor and Jimmy were the typical bully looking type. Bigger than most kids their age, angry faces, and an air of stupidity. Both had blond hair and were wearing dark suits.  
“Wuddup Nerd.”  
“Who’s this? Your girlfriend?” Natalia glanced at him with a cool expression.  
“No, just a friend. What’re you guys doing here tonight?”   
“Don’t change the subject. You made us look stupid the other day, now we’re gonna make you look stupid.”  
“Yeah, weirdo.” Jimmy echoed Victor.  
Victor started to lunge forward, grabbing for Tonio’s wrist. Natalia acted on instinct. She stepped between them and swatted Victors hands away. Her feet a shoulder width apart, one slightly slid back more than the other. Her hands were calmly hanging by her sides.  
Victor blinked at her uncomprehending for a moment, then he smiled. It was mocking, he started to laugh.  
“You’re gonna defend this baby?”   
Natalia could see Tonio hanging his head out of the corner of her eye. She grabbed Victor's hand and twisted it. She leaned in so no one could see. Victor was looking at her in fear, he struggled and Natalia gripped harder.  
“I could break your hand,” She whispered, “Wouldn’t that be fun?”  
Victor shook his head no frantically, Natalia twisted harder. He squeaked and whined.  
“Stop.”  
“Leave. Tony. Alone. Don’t ever bother him. You hear me?”  
He didn’t respond, she dug her fingernails into his hand. “Do. You. Hear. Me?”  
“Yes. Let go.” He gasped, looking nearly in tears.  
Natalia let go instantly. She smiled sweetly and stepped back, grabbing Tonio’s arm.  
“Have a fun night boys.” She called over her shoulder as they walked away.  
“I can take care of myself.” Tonio muttered under his breath. His cheeks were flushed and he wasn’t looking her in the eye.  
“I’ll teach you,” Natalia nearly stopped walking, her eyes went wide for a second before she regained her composure. She hadn’t meant to say that, it came out before she could filter her words. But now that she had said it, she realized that she meant it.  
“How? We only see each other once a year. And even that’s unplanned and iffy. I’m sure you aren;t in charge, we’re just kids. Who even plans your missions? How many have you been on? What’s your skill set? I’m sure you have one, everyone does. They just look a little different.” He was babbling now, gesturing with his hands. Natalia watched him almost fondly. She knew it was a nervous habit.  
“Come on, let's get out of here.” She tugged his elbow and they ended up in a sitting room, plenty of space but there was some furniture.  
“You still dance.” She stated, not asking. Tonio nodded at her, nibbling on a cookie he had snagged as they passed the snack table.  
“How’d you know?”  
“The way you walk. Graceful. You need to keep dancing, it’ll help your fighting skills.”  
“Is that why you know ballet?” Natalia had forgotten how perceptive he was. It was so unlike the other rich kids.  
“Yes.” She answered simply. Tonio could never know everything about her, but he could know some things. He’d figure stuff out otherwise.  
That night, instead of dancing and playing piano, they fought. Natalia guided Tonio through the moves that had been beaten into her bones at an unbearably young age. She showed him how to use the moves of ballet, a graceful and beautiful art, to hurt and break. Turning it into something ugly and terrifying.  
Of course it was just the beginning moves. Simple punches, ways to dodge or buy time. His form was terrible, making Natalia wince, remembering how those with bad form were treated in her homeland. But she was patient, gentler than Yasha and yet firm.   
The boy never complained. She could see his limbs shaking with effort, but he never once asked to stop. Tonio was either stronger than she had thought or was extremely stubborn. He will be sore tomorrow.  
Eventually they had been working for three hours and Tonio was clearly bone tired. He was refusing to ask to stop though. Natalia took pity on him.  
“It’s late. Just remember those moves and practice.”  
“Ok,” He dropped his arms, which had been raised and shaking pitifully. Natalia gave him a small smile.  
“Would you play for me?” She asked, gesturing to the piano that was in the corner of the room.  
“Alright, do you play?” He asked and went to sit on the bench. Natalia shook her head.  
Tonio reached out an arm, she sat next to him.  
“These are the keys, they go in alphabet order starting here,” He pointed at a white key, “But it only goes up to G, then it starts over. I wonder who decided that, who named the keys of a piano? Anyways, it doesn’t matter. You put your hands like this,”  
He adjusted her positioning of her hands. Natalia caught on quickly, copying his movements and posture. She had never been taught something so gently. All her teachers, except Yasha, had been callous and cold. It was fun learning something with Tonio.  
She learned a simple scale and tried to follow along as Tonio played a simple nursery song. It was harder than it looked, so she just sat and watched his nimble fingers play. The music was beautiful.  
Natalia bit her lip. Unsure how to proceed. It was rare she didn’t know how to do something on a mission.  
“Tonio?”  
“Natalia?”  
“Could I spend the night at your house?”  
“Maybe. Why? Not that I don’t want you to, it's just I didn;t know you could do that. And we’d have to figure out how to get you home without Dad finding out. And mom. And Jarvis.”  
“I just have a bit more time than I need on this mission and I wanted to spend it with my friend.” Natalia explained.  
Tonio looked at her carefully for a moment. Then he grinned, “Ok! Now, you’re the agent. Do you have a plan?”  
“Where's your house?” She asked.  
From there Tonio told her his address. (Really he should be more careful with this information, but she wasn’t going to betray his trust.) His room was on the first floor, he would crack open the window. His house was close by, so she would just walk there and then climb in the window. Tonio was smart with technology, helpful for knowing the security.  
Natalia left the party as soon as she had the information. In the main room, people were still dancing in full swing. Tonio’s parents were still wrapped up in talking, not even noticing he had been gone.   
She stepped out on the street. Yasha was watching her from the next rooftop over. She signed ‘tomorrow morning’ without looking and then vanished into the night. Within an hour and a half she was roaming the Stark property. The cool air of the night was nothing compared to Russia and she barely shivered.  
A car pulled into the drive. Five minutes later lights began to turn on in the house. Natalia watched from the bushes. A window cracked open. She smiled.  
Lithe and silent as a cat she crept up to the window. She climbed the brick wall slightly to reach and knocked quietly. Tonio opened it all the way. She climbed inside.  
The room was large, obviously a room in a lavish house, but it wasn’t as big as she had expected. A few posters of Captain America adorned the wall. The carpet was soft and the bed looked like an ocean. A table full of wires, toys and half built electronics was against a wall and there were slightly wobbly drawn blueprints pinned to the wall above it.  
It was definitely Tonio’s room.  
“Do you like it? I like it, especially the table. It's my favorite. How did you get here so fast? Also I have tried to climb that wall before and it's nearly impossible.”  
“Keep trying, you’ll get it. Yes, I like it. The carpet is very nice.”  
“Oh, yeah the carpets’ good. Hey do you have pajamas?”  
And that’s how Natalia found herself lying on one side of Tonio’s king sized bed in his pajamas. The softest she had ever worn. She would have slept on the floor, but Tonio insisted that Jarvis would have a heart attack if he knew that Tonio had a guest sleep on the floor. Natalia wasn’t sure how that mattered, since Jarvis wouldn’t find out about her, but she figured that she could indulge Tonio.  
It was the first time she had seen Tonio in something other than a suit. The loose sleeves of his pajamas slid up his arms when he climbed in the bed. She had seen bruises, the kind that happen when someone grabbed your arm too hard. It didn’t take much thinking to know where they had come from. He had slid them back up quickly. Natalia said nothing.  
“Natalia?” Tonio whispered from the other side of the bed.  
“Yes?”   
“Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome, Antoshka”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be published Wednesday Feb, 10.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is angst, and I am very sorry. But, please, enjoy! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've just realized that I've forgotten to put a disclaimer anywhere so here it is: I own only the plot, I don't own any of these characters, Marvel does.

Tonio woke up the next morning to his pajamas neatly folded and put away in his drawer. They looked exactly like the others. Natalia's dress was no longer hanging in the closet where they hid it among his suits, and her side of the bed was neatly made up. The window was closed too.   
It was as if she was never there. Like a ghost.  
Tonio was fascinated by it. He wondered if he could ever come and go like Natalia did. He crawled out of his bed and padded with bare feet to the kitchen. Jarvis helped him make breakfast, they ate it together in comfortable silence.  
…

“Who’s that?” Tonio asked bluntly. He looked at the tall man in front of him, sizing him up. He was obviously an agent of some kind, Aunt Peggy was introducing him. That meant he was potentially dangerous. Tonio trusted Aunt Peggy though.  
“This is Agent Fury. I’ve hired him, what do you think?”   
Tonio shifted his attention from his Aunt to the man again. The man glared back at him, obviously trying not to fidget. He looked funny with that frown on his face, Tonio thought he would look better if he smiled. He wouldn’t say that though.  
“What does Howard think?” Aunt Peggy frowned at Tonio’s question. Fury squinted at him, Tonio stuck his tongue out back.  
“Your father was not included in this decision.”  
“Alright,” Tonio visibly brightened and he stuck his hand out, “Agent Fury you can call me Tony. You better not slack off or else Aunt Peggy’ll have your head. Or at least your badge.” Fury crouched on one knee to shake his hand. Aunt Peggy smothered a giggle. Tony pulled back after a moment, “Hey Aunt Peggy?”  
“Yes, Bubba?”  
“When can I come to work for a day?” Tonio silently cheered at the surprised look on Fury’s face, he looked like he had just swallowed a frog.  
“Maybe next week if Fury here doesn’t mind watching you for part of the day.”  
“I’d be honored.”  
That’s how Tonio met Agent Fury. After that one day working at S.H.I.E.L.D with Fury it turned into Uncle Fury. Tonio was twelve, almost thirteen, he didn’t call his father dad anymore   
…

Desperate to please his father, Tonio had pushed himself in his studies. He no longer went to school. (He had come home with bruises from bullies too many times for Jarvis’s liking, Howard just muttered about him being a sissy.) Now he learned at home, from books. Jarvis and Aunt Peggy helped sometimes. Howard didn’t notice.  
Howard and his Mom had taken him to get tested. He already had graduated from middle school education and was only about a year and a half away from graduating from highschool education. Next would come college and moving out. A far away dream that Tonio couldn’t wait for.   
True to his word, Tonio kept up practicing the defense moves Natalia had taught him. He still danced, not that Howard knew. After a particularly bad kidnapping that resulted in rescue from Uncle Fury and Aunt Peggy and three days in the hospital, Aunt Peggy and Jarvis started to teach him how to fight and shoot. He still had Natlia’s knife, he brought it with him everywhere.  
That kidnapping had hit home. Gone for almost a week, no word of rescue from his own father. Long ago, when he still believed in heroes, he had used to hope for Captain America to come and save him. The man haunted his life in posters, comics and stories. His younger years were filled with hearing of legendary heroes and wishing that he could be like Captain America.  
By the time he had got home, Tonio knew. There was no such thing as heroes. He needed to save himself. Captain America was gone. Good riddance, Tonio had thought to himself as he tore the posters off his wall and shoved them into a box. The box was left and forgotten in the basement.  
…

“Stark men are made of iron! Stop your pitiful crying!” Tonio hiccupped, swallowing the lump in his throat.  
Howard glared at him, cold and calculating. Tonio looked up at the man with nothing except for disdain and despair. His hands shook, the broken glass in them clinking quietly. Tears streamed down his face.  
“Get out. Can’t even work properly.” Howard muttered.   
Tonio scrambled towards the workshop door. Burning pain tingled his fingers, he dumped the bloody shards in the nearest garbage. Wobbly feet carried him to his room, the door clicked shut behind him and he locked it.  
He fumbled with the first aid kit he had hidden in the closet. Shakily he rinsed and wrapped his hands. The white gauze was spotted with blood. Jarvis said nothing the next morning at breakfast, he only pressed his lips together tightly and shook his head. Tonio had his favorite dinner that night.  
His hands scarred, he knew they would. What he didn’t know was that they would stay there for years.  
…

“How’d you cut yourself?” Natalia asked, it was a casual question, catching Tonio off guard. She didn’t glance at him, still gazing out the window at the flashing lights and sipping her sparkling cranberry juice.  
“You mean my hands.” He stated, for clarification, but he didn’t need it.  
“They’re scarred, but the scars are new. They’re erratic, messy.” She was prompting him.  
“I picked up broken glass. Well Howard told me to pick up the glass. I suppose I deserved it, I was the one who broke the beaker anyway. They healed fine.”  
Natalia looked at him, really looked at him. To someone else it would have gotten unnerving but Tonio was used to it by now. Then she set her glass on the table and pulled at her gloves. They were violet tonight and stopped at just above her wrists. Tonio had never seen her at a party without her gloves on.  
Her hands were pale and looked deceptively dainty. Being the target of her fierce grip once or twice he knew that her fingers were strong. The nails were clipped neatly. There were scars around her wrists. Like a bracelet you could never take off.  
“In Russia, we sleep handcuffed to the bed,” Tonio glanced up at her sharply, but she was still focused on her hands. He reached out and she placed her hands in his, palm up. “It feels normal now. The scars might fade one day, but they’ll never be completely gone.”  
She pulled away and slipped on her gloves again. Tonio gently ran his fingertips against his own scars that marred his hands. Thinking.  
“Thank you,” he blurted out, Natalia looked at him questioningly, he shuffled his feet. “For showing me.” He nodded towards her wrists.  
“Oh. Thank you. For telling me the truth.”  
“Your welcome.”

They had developed a routine by now. Natalia would complete her mission quickly, having the skill enough to do so. Then she would find Tonio, who had almost always seen a glimpse of her earlier. Sometimes he could even guess details of her mission if he saw more. Tonio always laughed because Natalia couldn’t seem to figure out how he had seen her.  
Then they would talk, filling each other in on the year so far. Tonio always talked more than Natalia, who listened and absorbed information like a sponge. He explained his latest projects, such as a new robot, weapon, or program he had built. Aunt Peggy always came up, Natalia seemed to like her, so did Jarvis, and this year Uncle Fury was mentioned.  
Natalia, for her part, would tell him stories of other practice missions she had been on. He knew that her main handler was called Yasha, or The Winter Soldier. Tonio found it hilarious that Yasha knew how to braid her hair. Natalia thought it was funny too.   
By the time they were done trading stories, Tonio’s parents were always too drunk to notice if he scampered off and so they did. Sometimes they ended up in libraries, or an office or a sitting room. There they would play fight, Natalia teaching him the new skills she had learned and Tonio trying to copy her.   
If there was a piano then Tonio would always sit down and teach Natalia how to play. He marveled at her ability to remember what he had taught a year ago. She had progressed in her skill and loved it. Tonio personally just loved to play and watch Natalia dance. She twirled with experience and skill far beyond her years.  
“Nat?” Tonio asked.  
They were lying on the couch, upside down, with their heads just barely grazing the floor. Tonio insisted that it was important to see who would last the longest.  
“Yes?”  
“How will we see each other when I go off to college?”  
He glanced to his left, Natalia’s eyebrows furrowed the slightest bit. She was silent. He poked her.  
“Naaat..” He whined, she smirked at him and crossed her arms.  
“I guess I’ll just have to find you at college, Antoshka.”  
“You promise?”  
“Yes, of course. As long as you promise not to kill youself with science.”  
“I can’t promise that.”   
He groaned, sliding off the couch and on the floor like jello. She giggled at him. He mock glared.  
“You’ll be fine Tonio.” She said, suddenly serious.  
He knew what she was talking about. Last time he had gone to an actual school he had been the victim of many bullies. The butt of all the jokes. The little kid who showed off too many times.  
“Of course I’ll be fine,” He said, grinning madly as she gazed at him upside down. “I’m Antonio Stark! The genius of our time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be posted on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Any questions or suggestions are welcome in the comments! :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is Natalia angst, and the Red Room sucks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's late. Or early. Anyways it's currently 4 minutes past midnight right now, but here's your chapter. Once again, I don't own Marvel or ay characters, please enjoy! :)

Natalia was growing in her skill. She was fourteen now. Profiecent with pistols, knives, and hand to hand combat. Her unmatchable, natural skill for dancing only made her even more formidable. 

Yasha was still her handler, traveling with her on missions, keeping an eye on her. He was the only good thing about the Red Room. Sometimes, late at night on missions, when Madame B and the other handlers couldn’t hear, Natalia would talk with Yasha. They promised each other that if they ever had the chance to escape, they would do it together. 

She could speak four languages fluently and a handful of others good enough to pass as a worker. Yasha was teaching her to become a sniper, something not approved by the Red Room, but that Natalia had asked to learn. Everyday was filled with fighting until she was black and blue, practicing with weapons until she wanted to scream and memeorizing information only to repeat it back next week.

Never once did she cry. Even at the young age of fourteen she understood. Those other girls she had grown up with whose beds were now empty had cried. They had screamed and broken, this was unacceptable.

But Natalia was tired. She was tired of trying her best everyday. She didn’t want to become a spy or an assassin, someone who was feared and brought death. She wanted to dance, to play piano, to be able to see Tonio whenever she wanted. Not just once a year.

She had asked once, why Yasha was an assassin.

“Yasha,” She had said, “Why do you know all these things? Why do you kill people? Didn’t you have friends?”

He had paused, eyes gazing out into the distance. “I don’t know. I don’t remember. When you grow up Natalia,” He had said, suddenly serious, “you will be the best asset this organization has ever produced. I know you will. And when that happens, my little ballerina, you can run and be whatever you wish.”

Tonio was in the papers again. Natalia picked up the papers on her missions or snuck a glance when they were practicing their english. His hair was always slicked back, he hated it that way. Natalia missed seeing his chocolate curls. A brilliant smile was always on his face, just for the press. But it was superficial, Tonio’s eyes were always sad.   
She wished she could be in America, to make those sad eyes go away.  
…  
“Red?” Tonio asked suddenly, his voice was curious. Natalia stopped playing the piano.  
“Yes, bratishka?”  
“Could you..I mean.. If you wanted, can you teach me Russian?” 

He was hesitant, more so than usual. Natalia didn’t like it. Something had happened to make him nervous, she could tell. It was probably that scum who pretended to be a father’s fault.

“Of course.” She smiled, not one of her smiles she used for targets and missions. But her genuine smile, special just for Tonio.

And so lessons in Russian began. Among the other things each of them had taught each other, this was one of the easiest. Tonio was fluent in Italian by now as well as English, learning another language was easy for him.

The sharp sounds of the language sounded forgien coming from Tonio’s mouth. He was always so small and gentle, and talking a mile a minute but now he was reduced to speaking slowly.  
“Zdravstvuy.” She said, pronouncing it exageratetedly.  
“Zdravstvuy..” Tonio repeated, mumbling slightly. Natalia giggled and he glared at her, “I said hello, right?”  
“More or less.” She said, teasing him.  
“Whatever,” He muttered, “I’ll get it.”  
“Of course you will.” Natalia agreed and then said another word in Russian. Tonio parroted her dutifully.

The evening went on. Natalia spoke words in Russian inbetween sips of cranberry juice and Tonio copied them and asked what they meant. 

Occasionally they spoke in Italian, a language they both knew. Tonio taught her a new lullaby on the piano, singing softly in Italian to teach her the words as well. She committed it to memory, making sure that she would remember each note and word.

It was funny listening to Tonio sing, his voice was squeaky, like a young childs. He blushed adorably whenever she pointed it out, shyly stuttering. Eventually they tired of singing lullaby’s and Tonio taught her the words of his favorite music, which was brash and loud. She preferred gentle ballet music, but it was fun to watch Tonio jump around like a banshee. 

“Hey, Natalia?” He asked later.  
“Yes, bratishka?  
“Is this part of a set?”  
He brandished the knife she had given him a long time ago. She was surprised and pleased that he had kept it.  
She reached into the pocket of her dress, a silver, glittery thing. She pulled out the knife’s twin, shiny and deadly, matching Tonio’s.  
“How’d you know?”  
“The handle is curved, like you’re meant to hold both at the same time.”  
“Ah. Always the little genius. Yeah, they’re my favorite.” She saw Tonio’s eyes widen and immediately kicked herself.  
“You can have it back. I’m not harmless now, I don’t need it.” He held it out, the small weapon, held expertly in his hand. She shook her head with a fond smile.  
“It was a gift, Tonio. Keep it, this way we’ll always each have part of the set. Besides, every kid needs a knife.”  
“We’re so weird.” Tonio shook his head. Natalia agreed.

Normal children would never have to worry about things like they did. What would become of them when they grew up? The heir of a fortune and manufacturer and the next Black Widow, a spy and asassain. An unlucky and unlikely pair.

It was well on it’s way towards midnight when Tonio had to leave. Natalias mission required she report back right away, so they had to part ways.  
They hugged tightly, both starved for affection. Exchanged kisses on each others cheeks, a tradition by now and stepped apart.

“See you next year.” Tonio said by way of a farewell.

“I’ll find you, I promise.” He would be off to college, Natalia would have to work slightly harder.  
He offered a curt nod, glancing out into the main room. She took the opportunity and darted towards a window, knowing that by the time he looked back, she would be long gone.  
…  
A month later, Yasha was sent to another base for an evaluation. Natalia never saw him again. She never got to say goodbye, they never escaped together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it's short, I'm sorry! But the next one if longer, and then we'll get into the MIT days. Chapter 6 will be out on Wed. Feb 24. Comments are always welcome! :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet Rhodey, Howard and Maria die and Tony really just needs a hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning! Just standard stuff, I don't own Marvel or anything, and heres the next chapter! Enjoy! :)

Tonio wasn’t sure what he was expecting at MIT. As a fifteen year old genius who hadn’t been in public school his entire life and had been educating himself at home for the last two years, the thought of rooming away from home in a university was daunting.  
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Tonio had put up a front for his family(Really it was only Ana, Jarvis, Aunt Peggy and Uncle Fury who had seen him off) and plastered a smile on his face. He carried with him one duffle bag that was nearly the size of himself and his favorite toolbox, filled to the brim with whatever he could grab.  
Immediately he had claimed the left side of the dorm, seeing as his roommate hadn’t shown up yet. Cautiously, he had unpacked, not leaving much out. He wasn’t going to expose his belongings until he knew his roommate better, or maybe never.  
An hour later, while Tonio fiddled with a circut board, the door was opened quietly and a tall african american young man walked in. He was dressed casually, with a friendly face, two duffle bags and a backpack.  
“Oh, hey. We’re roommates. I’m James Rhodes.” He held out his hand, dropping one of his duffle bags.  
Tonio was surprised that James hadn’t recognized him from the papers, but he wasn’t complaining. Tonio set the circut board down and stood up, shaking his hand firmly like he had been taught.  
“I guess we are. You can call me Tony.” James nodded, eyeing the bed behind Tonio.  
“I take the right side?”  
“Um..” Suddenly Tonio felt very small and unsure of himself, “if you want. I can move if you want?..”  
James immediately held up his hands in surrender, his eyes wide, “No, dude. It’s fine, don’t move. You got here first.”  
“Oh. Ok.”   
Tonio set back down on his bed, uncomfortably watching James set down his own stuff. Well, it hadn’t been a total disaster. After a second, Tonio picked the circut board back up and started working on it again. Dead to the world around him.  
...  
It turned out that James was planning on joining the Air Force in the future and was interested in engineering as well. Tonio felt himself opening up to James a little bit more everyday. They always partnered up for projects in their corresponding classes.  
The first project they had was laughbly easy for Tonio. He had been amused but also disappointed. James had simply been impressed with how fast Tonio had completed it.  
“How’d you know how to do that?” He had breathed.  
“I learned it a long time ago, it's one of the easier things for me to do.”  
“Dude, that’s awesome.”  
“Oh..Thanks, Rhodey.” Tonio wasn’t entirely sure what to do with praise yet. He realized he had slipped with the nickname and instantly flushed.  
James turned to look at him weirdly, “Rhodey?”  
“Yeah, it’s a nickname. You don’t look like a James.”  
“But...Rhodey?”  
“It suits you Rhodey-bear.” Tonio was gaining confidence and he wasn’t going to let this go. Rhodey’s eyes widened and he stared at Tonio. Tonio stared back. Finally Rhodey held up his hands.  
“Alright Rhodey it is...Tones.”  
...  
Not everything was great. Turns out people didn’t take well to being shown up by a fifteen year old kid. Tonio’s smart mouth didn’t make things any better on himself.  
“You’re gonna get what you deserve.” The boy growled at Tonio.   
He looked like a football player, bigger than Tonio by a lot and with a few twisted teeth. His buddies were watching him and laughing at Tonio’s plight. He slammed Tonio into the locker, yeah that was going to leave bruises tomorrow. Tonio had resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  
“”Could you be anymore cliched? This is like a bad episode of some highschool-”  
“Shut up,” The dude snapped, “You think you’re so smart, I’ll give you something to be smart about, nerd.”  
Tonio went back to the dorm room that night with a black eye and bruised back. It would’ve been worse except that a professor had started to round the corner and the guys ran off. The teacher didn’t look in Tonio’s direction.  
There was no doubt that Tonio could have gotten away. With Aunt Peggy’s training and the move Natalia showed him he definitely had the strength and skill but he didn’t. Tonio didn’t want that kind of attention, right now he was flying under most students' radars, which was good because he could barely figure out how to interact properly with Rhodey.  
Speaking of Rhodey, the boy was outraged when Tonio came back to the dorm. Apparently, getting beat up was a cause for concern to him.  
“Rhodey, it’s fine.”  
“Hell no! It’s not fine, who did this? They shouldn’t be anywhere near you!” Rhodey had a grip on his arms, while Tonio swayed dangerously due to the blow to the face   
“I’ll be fine, bruises heal and I did mouth off a little.” Tonio answered tiredly. Rhodey shook his head while he deposited Tonio on his bed.  
“That’s no reason to beat up a..what’re you? Sixteen? Seventeen? You can’t be more than eighteen.”  
Tonio sighed, it was going to come out sometime. “Fifteen.”  
“What!? Ok, first of all, that’s crazy. I mean we already established you were a genius but that’s awesome. And second, it is most definitely not fine, we need to report this to a teacher or something.”  
“NO!” Tonio shot up suddenly, the thought of it being reported was absolutely not an option. “Rhodey, please don’t report it. I’m dealing with it, it’s fine. I promise. Please.”  
Rhodey stopped and looked at Tonio. Tonio looked right back at him, pleading with his eyes. After a moment Rhodey locked his jaw, flicked his eyes up at the ceiling for a moment and then nodded once.  
“Fine, I won’t go to the teacher. But Tony, you’ve gotta come to me if it’s bad, alright?”  
Tonio felt himself be slightly startled at the obvious worry, he was tempted to brush it off. Like he always did when it got a little too emotional, but something stopped him. Because for just a moment, Rhodey had reminded him of Natalia. Like a sibling.  
“Ok,” Tonio nodded, accepting defeat. “I’ll let you know, Sourpatch.”  
…  
Tonio should’ve seen it coming. He had gained a friend in Rhodey, they were inseparable and his classes were awesome. Natalia was due for a visit soon. For once in his life, he had everything to make himself satisfied. It figured that everything went to hell not long later.  
He got the call while Rhodey wasn’t in the dorm. It wasn’t even something personal or nice, just an obligatory phone call from the police station. ‘Hello?...Yes, I’m very sorry but both your parents have been killed in a car crash. Good evening.’ And then a simple click and dial tone.  
Rhodey found him drowning his sorrows in his third bottle of beer. It wasn’t even good, it was actually fairly terrible. After the initial panic and Tonio explaining why he was lying on the floor crying and drinking, Rhodey laid right next to him. They laid there for hours, Rhodey let Tonio finish his beer, but insisted he didn’t have any more. Rhodey laid on the hard floor, silently, just giving Tonio company. It was exactly what Tonio needed.  
“I didn’t even like them that much..” Tonio said suddenly, hours later, his voice sounding stilted and slightly hoarse. “Howard was an abusive ass and Mom was barely even there..I just..”  
“They were still your parents, Tones. No matter how much you have against them, its gonna hurt when they’re gone.”  
“Doesn’ make sense..” Tonio slurred, “But yeah, it hurts.”  
“It’s gonna be ok, Tones. I promise.”  
“If you say so, Honey-bear.” Tonio whispered back, reveling in the feeling of having a friend next to him. It wasn’t often he trusted others wholeheartedly, but Rhodey had earned that by now. If he said it was gonna be ok, then Tonio was prepared to believe that.  
But there was nothing he wanted more than for Natalia to be there right then. So that he could cry with his sister.

…

Natalia was at the funeral. Aunt Peggy, Jarvis and Uncle Fury were there too. Tonio didn’t cry, putting up a strong face for the cameras and reporters that were attending. Just like Howard had taught him since he was a child.  
Aunt Peggy and Jarvis did cry though. Silent somber tears for the man that Howard had once been and the woman that his mother was. Tony doubted it, but Uncle Fury told him that Howard had been a good man once. A hero too.Tonio couldn’t have cared less. Howard could’ve been many things, but all Tonio wanted was a Father.   
Natalia stood vigil beside Tonio, far in the back, where he was hiding from the adults who were still talking quietly and sipping champagne.  
“Thank you, for finding me.” Tonio said quietly, not looking at her.  
Natalia followed his gaze towards the group of people. “Of course, Antoshka. Tell me about college?”  
She was offering to distract him, Tonio could recognize it from a mile away. It was a relief. “It’s fun, my roommate is awesome. I call him Rhodey, thats not his name but I refuse to call him James. I started working on a learning A.I. and I’m gonna put him in a robot, Rhodey’s helping.”  
Tonio rambled on and on, losing himself in his eagerness to tell Natalia all that had happened and the desperate need to forget about the crash. She simply listened, she was good at that. Tonio was happy to have someone to listen, most people didn’t.  
From his plans for his A.I. to the party that he had dragged Rhodey to last week, Tonio let the childish excitement of having his own life spill into his speech. Natalia was interesting in every second of it, nodding to let him know she was listening.  
“Tony! Darling, we have to go.” Aunt Peggy called in the hushed tones of someone trying to be respectful and discreet.  
“Oh.” A disappointed sigh left his mouth and Natalia eyed him.  
“I’ll see you next year, Bratishka.” She leaned in an kissed him on the cheek, her fiery hair brushing his face slightly. “Take care of yourself, ok? And keep Rhodey around, I like him.”  
Tonio nodded and kissed her on the cheek in response, “I’ll try, but what if he leaves?” He voiced his fear, not wanting to let the question go another whole year unanswered.  
Natalia smiled sweetly at him, it was deceptive. “If he leaves, then I guess I’ll have a new target.”  
She spun on her heel and walked away, not looking back. Her swirly black dress swishing in the wind, the fog swallowed her form not long afterwards.   
“Till next year, котенок” He whispered into the wind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little on the fence with how I feel about how this chapter turned out, but I think it works. Comments are always awesome and totally welcome! Thank you for reading and next chapter will be out on Wednesday, Mar. 3.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Natalia meets Rhodey, Tony is a typical college student and Dum-e, Butterfingers and U make an appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning! First off, I don't own Marvel or any characters, only the plot is my own. Second, heres the chapter I promised, enjoy! :)

Natalia sat on Tonio’s bed, it was on the left side of the room. Her back leaned solidly on the wall behind her and the rest of her sat still. Clothes, tools, wires, circut boards and other miscellaneous objects were scattered across Tonio’s side of the floor, just barely encroaching on his roommates' side of the room.  
Natalia scanned with her eyes, noticing the patterns on the other side of the room. Tonio’s roommate was neater than Tonio, but still messy. Taking note of the trashcan, Natalia observed that they were on a standard college student diet. Energy drinks, instant ramen, and granola bars.  
Voices were coming down the hall. Male, two of them. The footsteps stopped infront of the door. There was a click and then it swung open. Since Natalia was out of their line of sight, the boys stepped inside without a second thought.  
Tonio still looked like a scrawny highschool student. His curls sat untamed on top of his head, there were bags under his eyes and he wore a rumpled sweatshirt. Standard notebooks were clutched to his chest.  
His roommate, an african american boy, looked only slightly more put together. He wore a sweatshirt to match Tonio’s and clutched an energy drink in one hand while lifelessly holding onto a notebook in the other.   
“Morning, Tonio.” She said softly.  
Never in her life had she heard two boys screech so loud. It was enough to make her giggle. Tonio and his roommate whipped around, dropping their notebooks and putting up honestly embarrassing defense geustures. Tonio dropped them almost immediately.  
“Natalia!” Tonio broke into a wide grin, “How long have you been here? And did you really have to scare us like that? It was a bit dramatic, some warning would have been nice. Not that I’m not happy to see you, I’m ecstatic! How long can you stay?-”  
“Wait! Wait, wait.” The other boy interrruptted, “Tones, you know her? What the hell is she doing in our dorm? No offense..” The boy looked cautiously at her.  
Natalia smiled disarmingly, “None taken. You’re Rhodey, aren’t you?”  
“W-what?! How does she know that?” He asked Tonio, then turned to her again, “How do you know that?”  
“Relax, Rhodey-Bear. Natalia, Rhodey. Rhodey, Natalia. My two best friends meet at last.”  
“Tonio, don’t confuse him.” Natalia chastised as she crawled off the bed gracefully.  
She stood up straight infront of Rhodey, her small height not making much of a difference. She was as small as Tonio. Sticking out her hand for a handshake, she smiled slightly.  
“I’m Natalia, me and Tonio have been friends for years. He’s told me a lot about you, I like you. Don’t make me regret it.”  
Rhodey shook her hand loosely. Natalia walked towards the kitchen in a retreat to get food. She heard Tonio laughing behind her and Rhodey’s bewildered stammers.  
…

“How long do you plan to stay?” Rhodey broke the silence that had fallen.  
He had been studying, or at least pretending to. Natalia was sitting quietly on Tonio’s bed, reading a book she found on the ground. Tonio had a class, which he would have gladly skipped, but she and Rhodey insisted he go. Natalia would still be there when he got back.  
“At least the rest of the week. Probably longer.”  
A rare opportunity had occurred in the Red Room. Pneumonia was spreading at an alarming rate, taking girls' lives. As a result the handlers had made the decision to send their best assets on a three month long mission: stay in the wind. It was practice, and the perfect opportunity to spend time with Tonio.  
“Oh.” Rhodey seemed to think that over for a second, “Tony will be happy.”  
“How is he?” Natalia asked curiously, letting a slight edge of worry creep into her voice.  
“I’m surprised he’s survived this long.” Rhodey deadpanned.  
“You picked up on that, huh.”  
“He’s like a magnent for disaster!” Rhodey burst out, “and he has got no self preservation skills at all. Sometimes I wonder if he really is a genius or not.”  
Natalia laughed, really laughed. Rhodey had hit the nail on the head. “That’s Tonio, but he hasn’t gone down any rabbits holes?”  
“Uh..no? Last year was really hard..” Rhodey referred to the first year since Tonio’s parents death and Natalia nodded, “but he got through it. I made sure he ate and everything. I basically kidnapped him for christmas.”  
“Good.” Natalia nodded her head fiercly, “I can’t watch him as much as I want, it's good he has a babysitter.”  
“You’re we-”  
A faint boom shook the buidling, Natalia stilled, going into defense mode. Already searching through explanations. Rhodey simply sighed and got up, rolling his eyes.  
“Tony has lab right now, that’ll probably be him. You wanna come with and check if he’s still alive?”  
“I’m gonna kill him.” Natalia wasn’t even surprised.  
“Trust me, I know the feeling.”

…

Tonio was fine, a bit covered in unidentified chemicals and charred lab materials, but fine. Amazing in fact, he was still giddy wih excitement. From the explosion and, as Natalia found out, eagerness to show her something.  
Natalia was currently covering her eyes while she sat on his bed. Her keen ears were picking up small clicks and beeps and quiet murmuring from both boys.  
“Ok, look, Nat.”  
Natalia opened her eyes to see what looked like a robotic arm on wheels. It was only slightly shorter than Tonio and had a camera at the end of its arm as well as the closest thing to a hand a robot could have. Tonio beamed proudly as the thing wheeled closer to her and beeped inquisetively.  
“Oh!” She breathed uncertainly, reaching out cautiously, “who’s this?”  
“This, is Dum-e. I told you about him.” Tonio prompted her.  
“He’s sentient, a learning A.I. that Tones made.” Rhodey added, Natalia noted that he sounded proud as well.  
“Hello, Dum-e,” She said, smiling warmly when the robot squeaked delightedly at his name and looked at her through his camera, “I’m Natalia, but you can call me Nat.”  
She patted his chassis gently, Dum-e chirped, rolling back towards Tonio slowly, almost as if huddling close to him.  
“He’s a bit shy.” Rhodey offered as an explanation.  
“He’s brilliant, when’d you finish him?”  
“Honey-Bear here helped, but we finished him about five months ago. He’s a baby.”  
“But he’s a learning A.I. that's his job, to learn! He has feelings and everything so you have to be nice to him.” Tonio fixed them all with a mock glare, but Natalia could see some truth to it.  
“Of course, Tonio. We’ll be nice, he’s a baby after all.”

…

Natalia fit right into college life, joining the ranks of exhausted students seamlessly. Of course, that was what she had trained for her whole life.   
She took advantage of the large class sizes and started to join some lectures regularly. At the Red Room she had been denied some common schooling, but Natalia loved to learn. Some days she shadowed Tonio and Rhodey to their engineering and coding classes, Tonio noticed, she was sure, but Rhodey remained blissfully ignorant. Other days she wandered campus herself, joining whichever lecture she found interesting.  
A particular favorite of hers was the historical classes. Particularly, historical art. In the Red Room she had learned about many cultures, but only to blend in and to understand it on a surface level. But these classes showed her the products of cultures, the meaning behind them, the skill that went into making them. Natalia adored it.

…

Tonio had been working on two more A.I.’s when Natalia had arrived. Rhodey was his buddy who helped occasionally. Now that Natalia had attended a few of Tonio’s coding classes, she understood a little bit of what they were talking about.  
In fact, to her eternal surprise, Tonio had allowed her to write a few lines of code in each of them. Natalia understood how important they were to him, his bots were just as much friends to him as her and Rhodey. She was honored to be able to contribute to them.  
A few weeks had gone by since she arrived when they were able to come online.   
The three of them had worked through the night, deciding to skip their morning classes. Tonio had been glued to the screen in his concentration, Rhodey switched between studying and helping add the finishing touches. Natalia simply sat and watched them, providing energy drinks and snacks, reveling in this little piece of life she had.  
Now it was the early hours of the morning, the sunlight still only gray. The dorms were deadly silent. Tonio sat in the chair at the desk looking at two computer screens, two robot shells were standing by, ready to have their A.I.’s uploaded. Rhodey and Natalia crouched next to him.  
“Ready?” Tonio asked.  
“Been ready.” Rhodey said, Natalia simply nodded.  
“Alright.” And taking a deep breath, he clicked with the mouse.  
The little bar showed them it was loading. A moment later, there was whirring and a soft chirp, the first one had come online. It immediately started to back up, Rhodey, in a blur of panic, yelled.  
“You! Stop!” It immediately stopped and tilted its camera. Almost looking dejected.  
“Shoot. Now it thinks that’s its name.” Tonio said, rubbing a hand over his face.  
“The other ones coming online.” Natalia said.  
The other robot beeped quietly, rolling forward. It hadn’t looked up at them yet, instead focusing on a wrench that was on the desk. It reached out and tried to grab the tool. The robot dropped it, rolling back as if it was startled when the wrench fell to the ground.  
Natalia giggled quietly, the special, happy moment getting to her.   
“Butterfingers,” She stated, looking at the robot intensely, the robot focused its camera on her. “That’s your name, Butterfingers.”  
“You and Butterfingers..” Rhodey said, contemplating the names.   
“Perfect names, they’ll match Dum-e.” Tonio nodded approvingly, his face was split in a wide grin.  
Slowly, so as to not startle the robots, seeing as they were practically newborns, Tonio got out of his chair and crouched infront of them.  
“Hello, my name is Tony. That’s Rhodey-bear and Natalia, but you can call her Nat. Your names are U and Butterfingers, is that ok?”  
Hesitantly, the two robots chirped an affirmative. Natalia couldn’t understand their language but Tonio did. He smiled softly, reaching out with both hands to pet each of them  
“Yes, they’re family. Would you like to meet your brother, Dum-e?”

…

“Where’s Tonio?” Natalia asked, leaning in so that Rhodey could hear her over the loud music.  
They were at some party, it was nearing one am and Natalia was getting ready to round up her boys. Tonio had begged her to come, insisting that she needed to take a break, so she had.  
Now, though, she was having regrets. Rhodey was obviously swaying and ready to go, the music blared, giving her a headache, which she ignored, and Tonio was nowhere in sight. He was a small kid, small for his age, which was conveniently younger by a few years than everyone here.  
“There!” Rhodey pointed vaguely.  
Natalia looked in the direction and caught sight of Tonio. There he was, the center of attention, obviously needing to be done with the night.   
Natalia watched in some kind of fascinated and slightly amazed horror as Tonio crawled up onto the table, stood tall and proud. His wild curls standing straight up and a red solo cup in his hand. She started to push her way through the crowd, trying to reach him before this went even more south.  
“Chug! Chug! Chug!” The crowd was screaming at him.  
Some kids were simply too far gone to realize what was wrong with this, others however knew how bad the fall out would be. They just got some kind of sick enjoyment out of watching a younger kid screw himself over. Natalia had no idea what was in that cup, obviously a type of alchohol. This was gonna be bad.  
Tonio, not one to disappoint the crowd. Chugged the drink and kept it down, throwing the red cup out into the crowd and throwing up a wavering peace sign. Before falling backwards and onto the floor. Natalia and Rhodey had already been running his way, but they could only watch as the crowd moved out of the way, not even trying to catch him, and Tonio crumpled to the floor.  
Natalia and Rhodey wrestled Tonio out of the party. Natalia carrying him piggy back style and offering a steadying hand to Rhodey when he swayed. Rhodey collapsed into bed immediately, Tonio was already asleep.  
He woke up in the middle of the night though. Natalia and Rhodey were both there while he sat on the bathroom floor, sick from too much cheap alchohol.   
As she rubbed Tonio’s back comfortingly and exchanged worried glances with Rhodey, Natalia felt herself becoming furious at the man who had called himself Tonio’s father. Howard Stark, who had been so preoccupied with finding his lost captain, he could not take the time to give his own son affection and attention. Now, years later, Tonio had still not learned the difference between good and bad attention. Or had simply just stopped caring.

…

“Do you remember Uncle Fury?” Tonio asked her quietly.  
It was the middle of the night, Rhodey slept soundly in his own bed. Natalia was lying on her stack of blankets on the floor. She and Tonio switched the bed and the floor.  
“Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury? Aunt Peggy recruited him.”  
“Yeah that's him. He’s only got one eye now, he’s got a cool eyepatch though. Aunt Peggy took me down there about a year ago. She says that Uncle Fury will be the next director. He’s training another agent now, Coulson or something. I just call him Agent to irritate him though.”  
“Mmm.” Natalia hummed in response. He was sleep talking, not really listening for responses.  
She liked to listen to Tonio ramble, it was soothing, it sounded like family. Sometimes, like now, Tonio got relaxed and slipped into speaking Italian. Natalia never commented on it, worried that he would stop.  
“You know,” Tonio said slowly, as if the secrets of the universe had just been revealed. But Natalia could hear the exhaustion in his voice and knew that he wouldn’t remember whatever he’d just thought of in the morning.  
Tonio continued, “if you worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. everything would be ok. Not perfect, just ok.”  
After that Tonio drifted off to sleep. Natalia simply stared at the ceiling of the dorm, contemplating the notion of working for S.H.I.E.L.D.   
She never mentioned it to Tonio in the morning. It was impossible, she didn’t even know how she would attempt to escape the Red Room, let alone become one of the good guys. They’d never accept her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is my favorite chapter so far, anyways comments are always awesome and welcome. The next chapter will be released on Wednesday Mar. 10. Stay happy and rock the world!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony becomes CEO, they all graduate and there is a surprise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning! Hope everyone is doing well! I tried to format this chapter better so I hope its not wonky for anyone. Disclaimer, I don't don't own Marvel or any of the characters. I hope you all enjoy! :)

After summer was over, Natalia had to leave. She and Tonio said their goodbyes, so did Rhodey and the bots. Tonio was absolutely delighted that Natalia and Rhodey got along so well, not that he directly told them that. 

It was a bittersweet goodbye, it had been the best summer Tonio had ever had.

…

Tonio and Rhodey graduated in the fall. Aunt Peggy, Jarvis, and Ana all came to cheer Tony on. Uncle Fury had been in the middle of a mission. Rhodey went into the Air Force after that, and Tonio went to Stark Industries to train with Obidiah.

He hated it. Obidah was overbearing and didn’t really get personal space. Clapping Tonio’s shoulder and pulling him in for stiff hugs. Making weapons was not what Tonio wanted to do with his life. He wanted to modernize the world, revolutionize it, change it. For the better.

Obidiah didn’t agree, and apparently inheriting a mulit-million dollar company involved a lot of training and work. Soon Tonio was swamped with deadlines that he struggled to meet, he was dragged to board meetings everyday, stuffed into a suit and dress shoes. He had to style his hair everyday, instead of letting his fluffy curls run wild.

Within two months Tonio was dead tired. He missed Rhodey and Natalia so much. He missed college, where he could wear sweatshirts all day and not comb his hair and spend time with his bots whenever he wanted. Where he could invent whatever he made up, because he simply had the time.

That was not the case here.

…

“Tony, my boy! Where were you today?” Obidiah asked, striding into the penthouse.

Tony growled under his breath, halting in his way to his workshop. Guess his visit to the bots would have to wait until he explained to Obidiah.

“Was I supposed to be somewhere? I completely forgot.” He flashed a grin.

Obidiah laughed humorlessly, stepping forward to grab Tony for a hug. Tony stepped back casually, pretending to grab a tablet off the couch.

“The board meeting today, discussing the sales of that new tech to the Navy. You developed it, you should be there. It’s a big step, you’ll be taking over the company next year.”

“Exactly, next year, a whole ‘nother year to relax. You’ve got this, Obie.” Tony made himself use the nickname, “Hey! Isn’t there a party tonight?”

“The Christmas gala, yes. You’ve been invited.”

“Formal, I suppose?” Tony asked with a sigh. Maybe if he went to the damn party he could distract himself from the anniversary of his parents death.

“I’ll let you have a drink if you come.” Obidiah joked.

Tony waved him away with a laugh, as if Obidiah could stop him from drinking.

He went to the gala, charming people with flashy grins and winks. Impressing the right people with his wit and insulting others with sarcastic comments they didn’t get until he was gone. 

Tony had five drinks, not that Obidiah cared. He went home with a pretty blonde in a sparkly dress.

Not once that night did he think of the fact that he had spent that Christmas alone.

…

A year passed. Tony became CEO of Stark Industries, Obidiah staying as his advisor only for the public eye. Now in charge, he had the ability to hand off some company projects to other teams. Creating more time for him to fiddle in his workshop and attend parties. Stark Industries was thriving.

He had created a name for himself as a playboy. It wasn’t something he was proud of. He knew Natalia wouldn’t be particularly pleased. 

It wasn’t often that he saw her or Rhodey now. Natalia was beginning to have more missions, and Rhodey had missions of his own for the military. Rhodey and Tony called each other every few weeks. Sometimes they even saw eachother at weapons presentations. And whenever Rhodey needed a place to crash after a mission he had a place in the tower.

About twice a year a coded message would show up in Tony’s personal inbox. An update from Natalia reassuring him of her safety, letting him know all she could about her missions. She always asked him to say hi to the bots and Rhodey. There was always a way for him to reply. He always did.

…

They were nearly twenty three when Natalia could visit again. Rhodey was gone on a secret operation for the military so it was just Tony and Natalia and the bots. She had appeared in his workshop, nearly scaring him out of his wits.

They caught up, laughing and talking for hours. It was so good to see her again. Tony had a present for her, it was a surprise though. He wouldn’t say anything just yet. It was hours later when he finally worked up the courage.

Tony fumbled with his tools, not building anything just fiddling, nervous energy running through him. Natalia was keeping him company, reading a book in her favorite chair. Dum-e had given her a smoothie earlier, which she had gladly accepted, but carefully avoided drinking it, which was wise.

“Antoska..” Natalia sighed from her chair, sounding fondly exasperated.

“Yes?” He asked, spinning around with a dazzling smile.

“What is it?” She asked.

“What is what?”

“You’re nervous. Whats wrong?” Nat sounded concerned and Tony sighed.

He dropped his tool and ran his hands through his hair. His mind was frantically running to try and come up with an excuse as to why he was nervous. It had been a long time since he felt this vulnerable, this afraid of rejection.

“I’m not-I mean..uh..its just that I had this idea..” He gestured crazilly, Natalia watched him patiently. “And I mean you might think its weird-which is fine..because I mean  
eccentric billionaire here and I don’t mind-”

“Tonio, just spit it out. It can’t be worse than some of your ideas in college.” Her voice was not unkind.

Tony took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Ok, well um...you never really knew your parents.” He blurted, wincing at the bluntness.

Natalia made a weird face but nodded for him to go on.

“Or your family, which is sad and totally not fair. But then you met me and we’re pretty good friends and you’re practically my sister and I was wondering..if you’d like-its fine if you don’t..but um...here why don’t I show you.”

Tony scrambled to pull up a hologram, blushing in embarrassment. Natalia padded across the lab and stood at his side, staring at the picture in front of her.

It was a projection of a document. Natalias official records, with her name and everything. The only thing that had been changed was the single addition at the end of her name. 

Natalia Romanova-Stark

She tore her eyes away from the screen and stared at Tony, who was shifting in his seat.

“It’s not real. Not yet. I just thought it would be nice, if you were officially family to someone.” He said, avoiding her eyes.

“Tonio..I..”

“It’s ok if you don’t wanna-”

“I love it.” She breathed, “Thank you.” Her eyes were a bit watery.

Tony’s eyes were wide and he was very still. She liked it. He hadn’t been expecting that. “You like it?”

“It’s wonderful..are you sure?” Natalia hesitated.

Tony broke into a wide smile and stood to hug her. Burying his face in her shoulder, she gripped him tightly, he could hear her heart beating faster than normal. Her soft red hair smelled like vanilla. He pulled away after a moment, a bit unpracticed with emotions.

“Of course I’m sure. You wanna make it official?” He rocked on his feet.

She nodded silently, at a loss for words, which was unusual. Tony hugged her again.

“Hey, you’re a Stark now, Nat. You can’t be mute.”

“I can do whatever I want, bratishka. Isn’t that the Stark motto?”

“See? You’re already getting it! JARVIS, make it real.”

“Of course, sir. Welcome to the family, Miss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite sure about how this chapter turned out but.. oh well. Of course any comments or kudos are greaty appreciated. The next chapter will be out on Wednesday Mar. 17. 
> 
> Stay happy and rock the world!

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 2 will be posted on Wednesday, Jan 27.


End file.
